Method and apparatus for measuring immunological reaction with the aid of fluctuation in intensity of scattered light

ABSTRACT

A coherent laser light flux is projected into a cell made of transparent quartz and light scattered from particles suspended in an antigen-antibody reaction liquid contained in the cell is detected by a photomultiplier by means of a collimator. An output electrical signal from the photomultiplier is sampled at different time instances and samplings are supplied to a fast Fourier transformer to derive a plurality of power spectrum desnities of fluctuation in intensity of the scattered light. A plurality of power spectrum densities are averaged to generate a mean power spectrum density. An amount of antigen contained in the reaction liquid is measured in accordance with the mean power spectrum density.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 769,965, filed Aug. 27, 1985,now U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,413.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring animmunological antigen-antibody reaction with the aid of fluctuation inintensity of light scattered by fine particles suspended in a reactionliquid, and also relates to a measuring cell for use in such method andapparatus.

2. Related Art Statement

There has been developed an immunological analysis for measuring immunesubstances, hormones, medicines, and various components such as immuneregulators faintly contained in living bodies by utilizing a specificimmunological reaction. The immunological analysis may be roughlyclassified into labeling immunological analysis in which enzymes andisotopes are used as an indicator substance, and nonlabelingimmunological analysis in which antigen-antibody complexes are directlymeasured.

In the former labeling immunological analysis, there have been widelyknown radio immuno assay (RIA), enzyme immuno assay (EIA) andfluorescent immuno assay (FIA). These assays have an advantage in that ahigh sensitivity can be attained, but also have a drawback in thathandling of isotopes and waste liquid is difficult, and measuringperiods are liable to be long. Further, since the labeling reagents areexpensive, the test cost per sample, i.e. running cost is liable to behigh.

In the latter non-labeling immunological analysis, there have beendeveloped immuno electrophoresis, immuno diffusion and sedimentation.These methods are rather simple, but do not have sufficiently highsensitivity, quantitativeness and reproducibility necessary for precisemeasurement.

In "Immuno chemistry", vol. 12, No. 4 (1975), pages 349 to 351, therehas been proposed an immunological analysis in which antigen or antibodybound on surfaces of fine particles are reacted with antibody or antigencontained in a test liquid, and an average diffusion constant which isan indicia of the Brownian motion of aggregates composed of agglutinatedparticles is measured from a variation in a spectral width of laserlight scattered from a particle suspension. This method has merit inthat no reagent is used. However, since the spread of the spectrum dueto the Doppler effect owing to the Brownian motion of aggregates isdetected by a spectrometer, the apparatus is liable to be large in sizeand expensive in cost. Further, error might be induced when thespectrometer is driven mechanically, so that precision andreproducibility are degraded. Moreover, in this known method, sincemerely the average diffusion constant is measured from the spectralwidth, an amount of available information about the antigen-antibodyreaction is limited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has for its object to provide a novel and usefulmethod for measuring an antigen-antibody reaction, in which method it isnot necessary to use expensive reagents, and an expensive and largespectrometer and measurement can be carried out reproducibly at a highprecision.

It is another object of the invention to provide an immunologicalreaction measuring method in which the measurement can be performedautomatically within a relatively short time period.

It is still another object of the invention to provide an immunologicalreaction measuring method in which a very small concentration of antigenor antibody contained in a test sample can be measured accurately.

According to the invention, a method of measuring immunological reactioncomprises the steps of:

projecting radiation to a reaction liquid containing at least antigenand antibody;

detecting radiation scattered by particulate substances in the reactionliquid;

deriving a plurality of power spectrum densities of fluctuation inintensity of said scattered radiation;

deriving a means power spectrum density in accordance with saidplurality of power spectrum densities; and

measuring antigen-antibody reaction on the basis of said mean powerspectrum density.

The present invention also relates to an apparatus for carrying out themethod of measuring the immunological reaction with the aid offluctuation in intensity of light scattered by particles.

According to the invention, an apparatus for measuring immunologicalreaction comprises

light source means for emitting a light flux;

cell means for containing an antigen-antibody reaction liquid;

optical means for projecting the light flux emitted from the lightsource means into said cell means;

photodetector means for receiving light scattered by particulatesubstances included in said antigen-antibody reaction liquid to producean output electrical signal;

means for receiving the output electrical signal supplied from thephotodetector means and deriving a plurality of power spectrum densitiesof fluctuation in intensity of scattered light;

mean for deriving a means power spectrum density in accordance with saidplurality of power spectrum densities; and

means for measuring the antigen-antibody reaction on the basis of themean power spectrum density.

The present invention is based on the following recognition. Theintensity of light scattered by aggregates of particles produced by anantigen-antibody reaction is fluctuated due to light interference, and apower spectrum density of the fluctuation in intensity of scatteredlight depend upon the shape and size of aggregates of particles.Therefore, by detecting the power spectrum density of intensityfluctuation, it is possible to derive a large amount of usefulinformation about an immunological reaction such as existence of anantigen-antibody reaction, quantitative information of the antigen orantibody, and agglutinated condition of aggregates of particles(diameter of aggregates) due to antigen-antibody reaction. According tothe invention, since the fluctuation in intensity of scattered light canbe measured simply by detecting the scattered light by means of aphotodetector, it is no longer necessary to use any expensive reagent.Moreover, since spectrum analysis of the scattered light is noteffected, it is not at all necessary to provide a large and expensivespectrometer.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the scattered light isdetected in a homodyne manner and a ratio of relaxation frequencies ofthe power spectrum density of fluctuation in intensity of scatteredlight before and after the antigen-antibody reaction is derived tomeasure the antigen-antibody reaction. This is based on the fact thatthe relaxation frequency is intimately related to size of aggregates ofagglutinated particles.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, a ratio of integratedvalues of the power spectrum density in a lower frequency range beforeand after the antigen-antibody reaction is measured. This is based onthe fact that the integrated value of the power spectrum density offluctuation in intensity of scattered light in the lower frequency rangeis closely related to size of aggregates of particles.

According to the invention the fluctuation in intensity of lightscattered by agglutinated particles is detected on the basis of thepower spectrum density, and therefore it is not necessary to useexpensive reagents and a spectrometer and further a large amount ofuseful information about the antigen-antibody reaction can be obtainedin a very short time period at high sensitivity and reproducibility evenif the concentration of antigen or antibody to be tested is very small.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the immunologicalmeasuring apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating a construction of a collimatorshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view depicting an arrangement of major parts ofanother embodiment of the immunological measuring apparatus according tothe invention;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are graphs showing power spectrum density curves forparticles having diameters of 0.188 μm and 0.305 μm, respectively;

FIG. 6 is a graph representing a relation between a particle diameterand a relaxation frequency of power spectrum density;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are graphs showing power spectrum density curves forparticle concentrations of 0.1% by weight and 0.09% by weight,respectively;

FIG. 9 is a graph representing a relation between the particleconcentration and relative fluctuation;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are graphs showing power spectrum density curves beforeand after the antigen-antibody reaction for antigen concentrations of10⁻⁴ g/ml and 10⁻⁹ g/ml, respectively;

FIG. 12 is a graph representing a relation between the antigenconcentration and ratio of relaxation frequencies;

FIG. 13 is a graph showing a relation between the antigen concentrationand ratio of relative fluctuations;

FIGS. 14 and 15 are schematic plan and perspective views showing anembodiment of the immunological analyzer according to the invention inwhich particles are agitated by ultrasonic wave;

FIG. 16 is a schematic plan view depicting an alternative of theanalyzer shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 17 is a schematic perspective view illustrating still anotheralternative of the analyzer shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 18 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of the analyzeraccording to the invention;

FIGS. 19A and 19B are graphs explaining the operation of the analyzershown in FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a schematic view showing still another embodiment of theanalyzer according to the invention;

FIG. 21 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the analyzershown in FIG. 20;

FIGS. 22 and 23 are perspective views illustrating another embodiment ofthe channel construction shown in FIG. 20;

FIG. 24 is a schematic plan view depicting still another embodiment ofthe analyzer according to the invention;

FIGS. 25, 26 and 27 are schematic plan views showing another embodimentsof the channel construction shown in FIG. 24;

FIG. 28 is a schematic view illustrating still another embodiment ofanalyzer according to the invention;

FIGS. 29 and 30 are schematic views showing two modifications of theanalyzer shown in FIG. 28;

FIGS. 31A, 32B, and 32A, 32B and 32C are waveforms for explaining theoperation of the analyzer shown in FIG. 30;

FIG. 33 is a schematic view depicting still another embodiment of theanalyzer according to the invention;

FIG. 34 is a schematic view showing still another embodiment of theanalyzer according to the invention;

FIG. 35 is a perspective view illustrating a cell box shown in FIG. 34;

FIG. 36 is a perspective view depicting another embodiment of the cellbox;

FIG. 37 is a schematic view showing still another embodiment of theanalyzer according to the invention;

FIG. 38 is a perspective view illustrating a cell shown in FIG. 37;

FIGS. 39A to 39C are cross sectional views for explaining the operationof the analyzer illustrated in FIG. 37;

FIG. 40 is a schematic view showing still another embodiment of theanalyzer according to the invention;

FIGS. 41A and 41B are schematic plan and side views, respectivelyillustrating an embodiment of the cell transporting mechanism accordingto the invention;

FIGS. 42A and 42B are schematic plan and sectional views, respectivelydepicting another embodiment of the analyzer according to the invention;and

FIGS. 43A and 43B are schematic plan and side views, respectivelyshowing still another embodiment of the analyzer according to theinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the immunologicalreaction measuring analyzer according to the invention. In the presentembodiment, a light source for emitting coherent light is constructed byHe-Ne gas laser 1 emitting a laser beam having a wavelength of 632.8 nm.The light source emitting the coherent light may be formed by a solidstate laser such as a semiconductor laser. A laser light flux 2 emittedfrom the light source 1 is divided by a beam splitter 3 into lightfluxes 4 and 5. The light flux 4 is collected by a condenser lens 6 andis made incident upon a cell 7. The cell 7 is made of transparentquartz. The light flux 5 is made incident upon a photodetector 8 such asa silicon photodiode. Then the photodetector 8 generates a monitorsignal representing a variation of the intensity of light emitted fromthe light source 1.

In the cell 7 is contained an antigen-antibody reaction liquid which isa mixture of a buffer solution, in which fine particles 9 are suspended,and a test sample containing an antigen or antibody to be tested. Onouter surfaces of particles 9 are bound antibody or antigen which isspecifically reacted with antigen or antibody in the test sample.Therefore, in the cell 7, the antigen-antibody reaction occurs andattractive forces are generated between particles. Then the particlesare agglutinated with each other to form aggregates and the Brownianmotion of the aggregates is changed in accordance with size and shape ofthe aggregates.

In the present embodiment, there is provided an ultrasonic vibratingelement 21 which is made in contact with the cell 7 so that anultrasonic wave having a frequency of 20 to 40 KHz is applied to thereaction liquid via the wall of cell 7. Then, the particles 9 in thecell 7 are excited by the ultrasonic energy and the probability thatantigens and antibodies came in contact with each other is materiallyincreased. Therefore, even if the antigen concentration is extremely lowsuch as 10⁻⁹ g/ml, the antigen-antibody reaction is promoted and issufficiently effected within a short time. It should be noted that theintensity of ultrasonic energy should be sufficiently large for movingthe particles, but should not be higher than a value at which thecouplings between the antigens and antibodies might be broken. Theapplication of ultrasonic energy may be interrupted during themeasurement. Alternatively, the ultrasonic energy may be applied evenduring the measurement, because the frequency range of the ultrasonicvibration is far from the frequency component of the fluctuation due tothe Brownian motion and thus the ultrasonic energy does not affect themeasurement at all. In general, since the cell 7 is very small such as10 mm (width)×10 mm (height)×1 mm (thickness), it is practicallyimpossible to effect usual agitation. According to the presentembodiment, the agitation can be performed effectively by applying theultrasonic energy to the cell 7 from the exterior, and further theapplication of the ultrasonic energy does not give any influence uponthe measurement.

Light rays scattered by the particles 9 in the cell 7 are made incidentupon a photodetector 11 via a collimator 10 having a pair of pin holes.The photodetector 11 is formed by a photomultiplier having a very highsensitivity.

The output monitor signal from the photodetector 8 is supplied via a lownoise amplifier 13 to a data processing device 14 to which is alsosupplied an output signal from the photodetector 11 by means of lownoise amplifier 15 and low pass filter 16. The data processing device 14comprises A/D converter unit 17, fast Fourier transformer (FFT) unit 18and calculation unit 19 and processes the signals as will be explainedhereinafter to derive a measurement result of the antigen-antibodyreaction. The measurement result is displayed by a display device 20.

The output signal from the photodetector 11 represents an intensity ofthe scattered light emanating from the measuring cell 7 and isnormalized by the monitor signal supplied from the photodetector 8 andaveraged for a short time period. Then any fluctuation due to thevariation of intensity of the laser light flux 2 emitted from the lightsource 1 can be removed. Next, the power spectrum density of fluctuationin intensity of scattered light is detected, and the agglutinationcondition of particles 9 in the cell 7, and thus the proceeding of theantigen-antibody reaction, are measured.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating a detailed construction of thecollimator 10 shown in FIG. 1. The collimator 10 comprises a tube 10awhich is made of opaque material so as to remove the influence ofexternal light. Further, an inner wall of the tube 10a is provided withan anti-reflecting coating. On both ends of the tube 10a there areprovided pin holes 10b and 10c. Now it is assumed that radii of the pinholes 10b and 10c are a₁ and a₂, respectively, a distance between thepin holes is L, a refractive index of a medium inside the tube 10a is n,and a wavelength of the light is λ, then the collimator 10 is formed tosatisfy the following equation (1). ##EQU1##

According to the invention, the power spectrum density of fluctuation inintensity of scattered light is detected. The power spectrum density canbe represented by term of fluctuation due to interference of light whichis caused by particles which are making random motion, and a term offluctuation of the number of particles which enter into and go out of ascattering volume. The first term fluctuation due to the interference isobserved as a spatial fluctuation of a speckle pattern. If this spatialfluctuation is detected by a photodetector having a wide light receivingarea, a spatial average over the area of the light receiving surface iseffected and therefore, only a small fluctuation can be detected. In thepresent embodiment, the field of view of the photodetector 11 is limitedby means of the collimator 10 having pin holes, so that the fluctuationcan be detected at a very high sensitivity. The above equation (1) canbe satisfied by using the collimator 10 with the pin holes havingdiameter of 0.3 mm and separated from each other by 30 cm, while themedium inside the collimator is air having a refractive index n=1.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the direction of the light flux 4impinging upon the cell 7 is made at right angles with respect to theoptical axis of the collimator 10, so that the incident light flux isnot directly introduced into the photodetector 11. This is called thehomodyne detection method. According to the invention, it is alsopossible to use the heterodyne detection method in which a part of theincident light flux is made incident upon the photodetector 11. That isto say, in the heterodyne detection, an inclination angle θ between theincident light flux 4 and the optical axis of the collimator 10 shown inFIG. 3 is set to zero. According to the invention, the inclination angleθ may be determined at will. In the homodyne arrangement shown in FIG.1, the output signal from the photodetector 11 is proportional to a meansquare value E_(s) ², where E_(s) is an amplitude of electric field ofscattered light. In the heterodyne arrangement, the output signal fromthe photodetector 11 is expressed as follows:

    (E.sub.e +E.sub.s).sup.2 =E.sub.e.sup.2 +2E.sub.e ·E.sub.s +E.sub.s.sup.2

wherein E_(e) is an intensity of electric field of the direct incidentlight. E_(e) does not fluctuate at all or fluctuates only slowly ascompared with the fluctuation of scattered light, and the last two termsfluctuate. Since the scattered light intensity is much weaker than theincident light, 2E_(e) ·E_(s) >>E_(s) ². That is to say, in theheterodyne method, it is possible to derive an output signal which issubstantially proportional to the amplitude E_(s) of the electric fieldof scattered light.

Further, it should be noted that the collimator 10 is not limited to theembodiment explained above but may be constructed in various forms aslong as the field of view of the photodetector 11 can be confinedsmaller than one speckle pattern.

Now the signal processing wil be explained. The output signal from thephotodetector 11 is supplied to the data processing device 14 via thelow pass filter 16 and is processed therein together with the outputmonitor signal from the photodetector 8 to derive the power spectrumdensity of fluctuation in intensity of scattered light. A power spectrumdensity S(f) of the stationary stochastic process x(t) may be expressedas follows. ##EQU2##

The power spectrum density of fluctuation in intensity of scatteredlight means an amount of the power of the intensity or amplitude ofscattered light in a frequency range from f to f+Δf, and is generallydefined by the following equation. ##EQU3## wherein ψ² x(f,Δf) is a meansquare value in a time series between f and f+Δf. The mean square valueis given by the following equation. ##EQU4## Therefore, the powerspectrum density of fluctuation in intensity of scattered light can beexpressed by the above mentioned equation (2).

In the present embodiment, the power spectrum density is normalized bythe monitor signal supplied from the photodetector 8, and therefore thedimension of the power spectrum density may be expressed by 1/Hz.

On the basis of this equation (2), the Fourier transformation isperformed to calculate the power spectrum density. The output signalfrom the photodetector 11 is amplified by the low noise amplifier 15 issuch a manner that signal values can cover a wide range of A/Dconversion quantum levels, and data thus quantized is calculated by amicroprocessor to derive the power spectrum density. From the powerspectrum density, the condition of the immunological reaction ismeasured as will be explained later and is displayed numerically on thedisplay unit 20.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are graphs showing power spectrum density curves which areobtained when test liquids having dispersed polystyrene latex particleshaving diameters 0.188 μm and 0.305 μm, respectively are introduced inthe cell 7 shown in FIG. 1. In these graphs, the normalized powerspectrum density (1/Hz) is denoted on the ordinates. There are obtainedLorentz's type power spectrum density curves. This reflects theinterference component of the power spectrum density of fluctuation inintensity of scattered light. From these curves, one can recognize thata relaxation frequency of the power spectrum density is inverselyproportional to the diameter of the particle. As explained above, thefluctuation in intensity of scattered light is a sum of the componentdue to the interference of coherent light and the component due to thevariation in the number of particles within the scattering volume. Inthe present embodiment, the component due to the interference is mainlydetected. Then the relaxation frequency of the power spectrum densitywhich is defined by a frequency at a shoulder of the power spectrumdensity curve is equal to the inverse of a time required for aggregatesto move over the distance equal to the wavelength. When the diameter ofaggregates of particles is increased, the travelling time becomes longerand thus the relaxation frequency becomes lower.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a relation between the particle size denotedon the abscissa and the relaxation frequency denoted on the ordinate inthe homodyne detection. Both the coordinates are denoted by log-scale.For the particles having diameter of 0.0915 μm the relaxation frequencyis about 400 Hz, for particles of diameter of 0.188 μm the relaxationfrequency is about 200 Hz, and for particles of diameter of 0.305 μm, Farelaxation frequency of about 100 Hz is observed. As clearly understoodfrom the graph shown in FIG. 6, the relaxation frequency is inverselyproportional to particle diameter and therefore, by detecting thevariation in the relaxation frequency during the immunological reaction,it is possible to measure an existence of agglutination of particles dueto the antigen-antibody reaction and degree of the agglutination. Thatis to say, when the antigen-antibody reaction is effected in the cell 7,fine particles are agglutinated with each other to form largeraggregates and then the relaxation frequency becomes lower.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are graphs showing the power spectrum density curves whichare obtained when polystyrene latex particles having diameter of 0.3 μmare suspended in a buffer solution by concentrations of 0.1% by weightand 0.09% by weight, respectively. Both curves are of the Lorentz type.As explained above, the fluctuation in intensity of scattered light is asum of the interference component due to the Brownian motion ofparticles and the non-interference component due to the variation in thenumber of particles in the scattering volume. When the number ofparticles in the scattering volume is small, the interference componentbecomes smaller and compatible with the non-interference component.Then, components other than the fluctuation in intensity of scatteredlight due to the Brownian motion of particles may be detected and theantigen-antibody reaction can not be measured precisely. Therefore, theconcentration of particles should be determined in such a manner thatthe incident light is sufficiently strong within the scattering volumeand the interference component becomes larger than the non-interferencecomponent.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing the relation between the number of particlesin 1 mm³ and a relative fluctuation <δI² >/<I>². When a diameter of ascattering body is constant, the relative fluctuation also becomesconstant over a relatively wide range of the particle concentration.This can be experimentally confirmed by the curve shown in FIG. 9.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are graphs illustrating power spectrum density curvesbefore and after (fifteen minutes) the antigen-antibody reaction. Thesecurves were obtained by dispersing polystyrene latex particles havingdiameter of 0.3 μm and having anti-immuno globulin G (anti-IgG) bound ontheir surfaces in a buffer solution having PH 7 adjusted by Tris-HCl andimmuno globulin G is introduced in the suspension by the concentrationof 10⁻⁴ g/ml and 10⁻⁹ g/ml, respectively. As shown in FIG. 10, in caseof the antigen concentration of 10⁻⁴ g/ml, prior to the reaction, therelaxation frequency was about 50 Hz and after fifteen minutes therelaxation frequency was decreased to 10 Hz. Contrary to this, in caseof the antigen concentration of 10⁻⁹ g/ml, the relaxation frequencybefore the reaction was about 95 Hz and decreased to about 40 Hz afterreaction. Therefore, when a ratio F of the relaxation frequency beforeand after the reaction, the following table is obtained. ##EQU5## Therelation between the ratio F and antigen concentration is represented bya curve shown in FIG. 12. In FIG. 12, the abscissae denotes theconcentration of antigen and the ordinate represents the ratio F of therelaxation frequency. In this manner, according to the invention theantigen concentration can be measured by deriving the ratio F of therelaxation frequency before and after the reaction.

From the graphs shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, it can be further recognizedthat a ratio R of relative fluctuations before and after theantigen-antibody reaction is related to the concentration of antigen.Next, this will be explained in detail. In FIG. 1, the electrical outputsignal from the photodetector 11 receiving the scattered light is passedthrough a low pass filter having the following transfer function H(f).##EQU6## wherein f_(c) is a cut-off frequency of the low pass filterwhich is sufficiently lower than the relaxation frequency f_(r). Then, avariance of the fluctuation in an output electrical current I from thelow pass filter can be expressed as follows.

    <δI.sup.2 >=K.sup.2 <N>+K.sup.2 <N>.sup.2 f.sub.c /f.sub.r (4)

where K is a constant and <N> is a mean number of particles in thescattering volume. Therefore, a relative fluctuation in the outputcurrent of the low pass filter can be represented by the followingequation (5). ##EQU7## wherein γ is a proportionality constant. Since itcan be assumed that the number of particles in the scattering volume issufficiently large, the equation (5) can be rewritten as follows.##EQU8## This equation shows that the relative fluctuation can becalculated by deriving the relaxation frequency f_(r) from the powerspectrum density curve. Then the ratio R of relative fluctuation can berepresented by the following equation (7). ##EQU9##

FIG. 13 is a graph showing the relation between the ratio R of relativefluctuation and antigen concentration. From this graph it can be clearlyunderstood that an unknown concentration of antigen can be measured byderiving the ratio R of relative fluctuations before and after theantigen-antibody reaction. That is to say, prior to the actualmeasurement the ratio R of relative fluctuation is detected by usingstandard samples having known antigen concentrations to form acalibration curve similar to the curve shown in FIG. 13. Then a ratio Rof relative fluctuation is detected for a sample and unknown antigenconcentration of the sample is measured from the calibration curve.

The ratio R of relative fluctuation defined by the equation (7) can bederived as a ratio of integrated values of the power spectrum densitycurve in a lower frequency range. That is to say, the ratio R ofrelative fluctuation can be also detected in accordance with thefollowing equation (8). ##EQU10## As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 theintegrated values A and B of the power spectrum density before and afterthe reaction are obtained by integrating the power spectrum density from10⁻¹ Hz to 10¹ Hz. Therefore, the low pass filter is composed to passthis frequency range.

In FIGS. 10 and 11, the ratio R of relative fluctuation is derived as aratio between the integrated values A and B of the power spectrumdensity in the lower frequency range. According to the invention, it isalso possible to derive the ratio R of relative fluctuation at a certainfrequency in the low frequency range, e.g. 10⁰ Hz. In such a case, adigital filter may be used instead of the fast Fourier transformer andthus the whole construction can be made very simple and the processingtime becomes very short.

In case that size aggregates of particles is relatively uniform, thepower spectrum density becomes the Lorentz type and decreases inverselyproportional to a square of frequency beyond the relaxation frequency.However, when the aggregate size is distributed, there may be observed asuperposition of a plurality of Lorentz type power spectrum densitycurves having different relaxation frequencies and therefore, the powerspectrum density does not decrease inversely proportional to thefrequency. This means that a distribution of aggregate size can be knownfrom a configuration of the power spectrum density curve in a higherfrequency range. Such data could never be obtained by known analyzingmethods and is very useful for analyzing the antigen-antibody reaction.

FIG. 14 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of theimmunological analyzer according to the invention, in which the reactionliquid can be agitated by ultrasonic energy. In the present embodiment,a plurality of cuvettes 23 are arranged on a turntable 22 along itsperiphery. The turntable 22 is rotated intermittently in a directionindicated by an arrow A. At a position a, a given amount of a samplecontaining antigens to be measured is delivered into a cuvette 23. At aposition b, a first photometry is effected and then at a position c, agiven amount of a reagent containing particles having antibodies boundthereon is delivered into the relevant cuvette. After a suitablereaction time has passed, at a position d, a second photometry isperformed to detect a light flux scattered by agglutinated particles. Inthe present embodiment, the cuvette 23 serves as the photometric cell 7shown in FIG. 9. After the measurement, the cuvette 23 is washed at aposition e. According to the present embodiment, ultrasonic energy isapplied to the reaction liquid contained in the cuvette 23, while thecuvette is transported from the position c to the position d. Therefore,the particles in the reaction liquid are vibrated and thus theantigen-antibody reaction is promoted. This results in that the rotatingspeed of the turntable 22 can be increased.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, the turntable 22 is rotated by a motor 24 andthe cuvettes 23 are immersed in a liquid 27 contained in a thermostat25. On a bottom surface of the thermostat 25 is secured an ultrasonicvibration element 26.

Since the liquid 27 of the thermostat 25 conducts the ultrasonic wavevery efficiently, the reaction liquids contained in all the cuvettes areexcited by the ultrasonic wave and the agitation can be carried outeffectively.

FIG. 16 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the analyzeraccording to the invention in which the reaction liquid is agitated bythe ultrasonic wave. In the present embodiment, a plurality ofultrasonic vibrating elements 26 are provided at positions correspondingto positions at which cuvettes 23 arranged on a turntable 22 arestopped. The ultrasonic vibrating elements 26 are arranged movably inradial directions and are driven by suitable actuators not shown into afirst position at which the elements are separated from the cuvettes 23and into a second position at which the elements are brought intocontact with the cuvettes. While the turntable 22 is rotated, theultrasonic vibrating elements 26 are kept in the first position, andwhile the turntable is stationary, the elements are driven into the thesecond position. In this manner, according to the present embodiment,the reaction liquids contained in the cuvettes are agitated byultrasonic energy while the cuvettes are kept stationary at positionsbetween the positions c and d in FIG. 14.

FIG. 17 is a schematic perspective view showing still another embodimentof the analyzer according to the invention in which the reaction liquidsare excited by the ultrasonic wave. In the present embodiment,ultrasonic vibrating elements 26 are secured to side walls of cuvettes23 which are arranged on a turntable (not shown). In order to supply theelectric power to the ultrasonic vibrating elements 26, to the elementare connected conductive brushes 28 which are slidably contacted withconcentric conductive rails 29. By rotating the turntable, theconductive brushes 28 are slidably moved over the rails 29 which areconnected to an oscillator. It should be noted that the rails 29 may beprovided within a range between the positions c and d in FIG. 14. In thepresent embodiment use must be made of an electrically insulatingthermostat liquid or an air-bath type thermostat.

In the embodiments so far explained, the particles in the reactionliquid are moved in a random fashion by means of ultrasonic energy, andthus the antigen-antibody reaction is extremely enhanced. Therefore, theimmunological reaction can be measured precisely within a very shorttime period even if a concentration of antigen or antibody contained ina sample is extremely small.

FIG. 18 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of theimmunological analyzer according to the invention. In the presentembodiment, elements similar to those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by thesame reference numerals used in FIG. 1. A laser light flux 2 emittedfrom an He-Ne gas laser 1 is divided into fluxes 4 and 5 by means of abeam splitter 3. The light flux 4 is focussed by a condenser lens 6 ontoa transparent cell 7 containing fine particles 9. The light flux 5 ismade incident upon a silicon photodiode 8 and its output signal isamplified by a low noise amplifier 13 to generate a monitor signalrepresenting a fluctuation of the laser light source 1.

A light flux scattered by the particles 9 suspended in a reaction liquidcontained in the cell 7 is made incident upon a photomultiplier 11 via acollimator 10 having a pair of pin holes. An output signal from thephotomultiplier 11 is supplied to a first A/D converter 31 via a lownoise amplifier 15. In the first A/D converter 31, during each measuringperiod the signal from the amplifier 15 is sampled to obtain P digitalsignals each consisting of M bits. These digital signals are stored in afirst memory 32. The sampling operation is controlled by sampling pulsessupplied from a sampling pulse generator 33. A capacity of the memory 32should be equal to or larger than P×M bits. The monitor signal from theamplifier 13 is also sampled by a second A/D converter 34 under thecontrol of the sampling pulse generator 33 to derive P digital signalseach consisting of M bits. These digital signals are stored in a secondmemory 35. Corresponding digital signals stored in the first and secondmemories 32 and 35 are then read out and are supplied to a divider 36 toderive a normalized signal in which any fluctuation due to the laserlight source 1 has been compensated for. The signal thus derived issupplied to a fast Fourier transformer 37 to obtain a power spectrumdensity in intensity of the scattered light. According to the presentembodiment, the above explained process is repeated several times toderive a plurality of power spectrum densities which are then stored inmemories 39-1 to 39-N via a multiplexer 38. Each of the memories 39-1 to39-N has a storing capacity equal to or larger than P×M bits. The powerspectrum densities stored in the memories 39-1 to 39-N are suppled to anormalizer or averaging circuit 40 to derive a mean power spectrumdensity which is then supplied to a calculation unit 41. In thecalculation unit 41, the calculation is effected in accordance with themean power spectrum density to derive measuring result such as existenceor non-existence of agglutination reaction, and concentration of antigenor antibody contained in a sample. The measuring result thus obtained issupplied to a printer 42. Further, the waveform of the mean powerspectrum density can be monitored on a cathode ray tube 43.

Since an amount of light scattered by the particles 9 is very small, thepower spectrum density obtained by one sampling has a very low S/N asillustrated in FIG. 19A. But according to the present embodiment, thesampling is effected several times to derive a plurality of powerspectrum densities and then these power spectrum densities are averagedby the normalizer 40 to obtain the mean power spectrum density.Therefore, S/N of the mean power spectrum density can be increasedmaterially as shown in FIG. 19B. In general, S/N is increased by √Ntimes, when the sampling is carried out by N times. Therefore, if thesampling is performed by a hundred times, S/N can be made higher by tentimes. It should be noted that the operation in the calculation unit 41may be effected in the same manner as that explained above withreference to FIGS. 1 to 13.

FIG. 20 is a schematic view illustrating another embodiment of theimmunological analyzer according to the invention. In the presentembodiment elements similar to those shown in FIG. 18 are denoted by thesame reference numerals used in FIG. 18. A light flux 4 divided by abeam splitter 3 is converted into a parallel beam having a largediameter by means of a beam expander 44 and the parallel beam is madeincident upon a transparent cell 7 by means of a cylindrical lens 45 insuch a manner that the beam is focused within the cell 7 to form alinear focus line f. The other light flux 5 is made incident upon asilicon photodiode 8 to derive a monitor signal which is then amplifiedby a low noise amplifier 13.

Light rays scattered by particles suspended in a reaction liquidcontained in the cell 7 are made incident via an array of optical fibers46 upon an array of photodiodes 47. It should be noted that the opticalfibers of the array 46 and photodiodes of the array 47 should not becorresponded to each other one by one, but scattered light fluxestransmitted through, for instance, two optical fibers may be received bya single photodiode. In the present embodiment, there are provided Nchannels for receiving the light fluxes scattered by particles atdifferent locations in the cell 7.

Photoelectrically converted output signals from the photodiode array 47are parallelly amplified by low noise amplifiers 15-1 to 15-N and thenthe amplified signals are converted into digital signals by means of A/Dconverters 31-1 to 31-N under the control of a sampling pulse generator33. In each A/D converters 31-1 to 31-N, during each measuring period Pdigital signals each consisting of M bits are sampled and are thenstored in first memories 32-1 to 32-N. Therefore, each of the memories32-1 to 32-N must have a storing capacity equal to or larger than P×Mbits.

The monitor signal from the amplifier 13 is also sampled by an A/Dconverter 34 under the control of the sampling pulse generator 33 toderive P digital signals each consisting of M bits. The digital monitorsignals thus derived are then stored in a second memory 35.

The P digital signals stored in the memories 32-1 to 32-N aresuccessively read out and are supplied to a divider 36 via a multiplexer48. To the divider the digital monitor signal stored in the memory 35are also supplied to derive normalized output signals from which anyfluctuation of a laser light source 1 has been removed. The outputsignals thus obtained are supplied to a fast Fourier transformer 37 toderive successively power spectrum densities in intensity of scatteredlight which are then stored in memories 39-1 to 39-N via a multiplexer38. The remaining operation is the entirely same as that explained abovewith reference to FIGS. 18 and 19. That is to say, the N power spectrumdensities obtained by means of the N channels are averaged by anormalizer 40 to derive a mean power spectrum density having high S/N.In the present embodiment, the S/N can be increased by √N times byproviding N channels.

Now the operation of the analyzer will be explained by way of anumerical example. In the present embodiment, data is processed on realtime and the waveform of the mean power spectrum density can bemonitored on the cathode ray tube 43 on real time.

A sampling rate in the A/D converters 31-1 to 31-N is made higher thanthe signal frequency more than two times in accordance with the samplingtheory. The frequency components of the fluctuation in intensity of thescattered light is lower than several hundred Hertz, and thus thesampling rate is set to 2 KHz. Therefore, a period of the sampling pulseis 500 μs which is called a cycle time T_(c). Further, in each measuringperiod, there are effected 1024 samplings, i.e. P=1024. Then, themeasuring period equals to 500 μs×1024≅500 ms. That is to say, all thedata is collected within about 500 ms.

Since the fast Fourier transformer 37 has to process the data at a highspeed, it is constructed by hardware. A cycle time of the fast Fouriertransformer 37 is assumed to be 200 ns and a four cycle Butterflyoperation is to be effected. Then, a single Butterfly requires 800 ns.The number of Butterfly operations required for the fast Fouriertransformation of P=1024 points becomes equal to P/2×log₂ P=512×10=5120.Therefore, a time necessary for the Fourier transformation per channelbecomes 800 ns×5120≅4 ms. As illustrated in FIG. 21, if a datacollecting cycle time T_(c) is assumed to be 500 ms, after the data hasbeen collected during 500 ms, but prior to a next data collection, theFourier transformation which requires the period T_(F) =4 ms per channelis effected for all N channels. In this manner, the real time processingfor at least a hundred channels may be performed.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the channelconstruction for receiving parallelly light rays scattered at differentpositions on the focus line F. In this embodiment, between the cell 7and the optical fiber array 46 is arranged an imaging lens 49 whichforms an image of the focus line F onto an incident end surface of theoptical fiber array 46. In this case, the imaging lens 49 may be formedby a cylindrical lens as illustrated in FIG. 22, because it does notrequire to have the imaging power in a direction parallel to the focusline F.

FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of thechannel construction according to the invention. In the presentembodiment, an incident end portion of the optical fiber array 46penetrates into a side wall of the cell 7 in such a manner that theincident end surface of the optical fiber array 46 is situated in thevicinity of the focus line F. Therefore, the resolution of the channelis made much higher and the S/N of the power spectrum density can beincreased. It should be noted that at least a part of the optical fibersin the array 46 may be constructed by converging type optical fibers.Then, a distance between the focus line F and the incident end surfaceof the optical fiber array may be large and thus it is not alwaysnecessary to insert the incident end portion of optical fiber array intothe cell 7, so that the construction becomes much simpler. It should befurther noted that the optical fiber array may be replaced by discreteoptical fibers and light rays scattered at different positions of thefocus line F may be introduced into photomultipliers via the discreteoptical fibers. Moreover, between the cell 7 and the optical fiber array46 may be arranged a linear channel plate type image intensifier foramplifying the scattered light rays as will be explained later. Such aconstruction is especially suitable when the scattered light rays arevery weak.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 20, the laser light beam is madeincident vertically upon the cell 7 so as to form the focus line F whichextends horizontally. According to the invention, it is also possiblethat the parallel laser light is made incident horizontally upon thecell. Now such an arrangement will be explained hereinbelow.

FIG. 24 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment of the analyzeraccording to the invention. In the present embodiment, a laser lightflux 4 divided by a beam splitter 3 is collected by a condenser lens 6and then is converted into a thin parallel beam by means of a collimatorlens 50. The parallel beam thus formed is made incident upon a cell 7horizontally. Light rays scattered at different points in the cell 7 aremade incident upon a photodiode array 47 via an optical fiber array 46.The remaining construction of the analyzer of the present embodiment isentirely the same as that shown in FIG. 20 and thus its detailedexplanation is omitted. Also in the present embodiment, since a meanpower spectrum density is derived, its S/N can be increased materially.

FIG. 25 is a schematic plan view showing anoher embodiment of thechannel construction of the analyzer according to the invention. In thisembodiment, a linear multichannel-type image intensifier 51 is arrangedbetween the optical fiber array 46 and photodiode array 47 so as toamplify the weak scattered light. The image intensifier 51 comprises aphotocathode 53 arranged opposite to the optical fiber array 46, afluorescent plate 54 arranged opposite to the photodiode 47, a linearmulti-channel plate 52 arranged between the photocathode 53 andfluorescent plate 54, and a power supply source 55 connected across thephotocathode and fluorescent plate. Since the image intensifier has avery large amplification factor, the very weak scattered light can beamplified to obtain a power spectrum density having a high S/N.

FIG. 26 is a schematic plan view illustrating another embodiment of thechannel construction according to the invention. In the presentembodiment, light rays scattered at different points in the cell 7 aremade incident upon a plurality of photomultipliers 57-1 to 57-N by meansof a plurality of discrete optical fibers 56-1 to 56-N. Since thephotomultipliers 57-1 to 57-N have the very high sensitivity, the weakscattered light rays can be detected effectively.

FIG. 27 is a schematic plan view showing still another embodiment of thechannel construction according to the invention. In the presentembodiment, between the cell 7 and the optical fiber array 46 isarranged in imaging lens 58 which forms an image of a part of planewithin the cell along which the parallel light beam is made incident. Inthis case, the imaging lens 58 may not have the imaging faculty in adirection perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, and thus it may beformed by a cylindrical lens.

FIG. 28 is a schematic view illustrating still another embodiment of theanalyzer according to the invention. In the present embodiment, elementssimilar to those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same referencenumerals as those used in FIG. 1. In the present embodiment, a laserlight beam 2 emitted from a laser light source 1 is chopped by a chopper61 under the control of a chopping signal generator 62, and the choppedlaser beam is separated by a beam splitter 3 into chopped light fluxes 4and 5. The chopping frequency should be set to a value higher than 1 KHzwhich does not interfere with the frequency of the fluctuation. Thelight flux 4 is made incident upon a transparent cell 7 via a condenserlens 6 and a light flux scattered by particles 9 is received by aphotomultiplier 11 via a collimator 10 having a pair of pin holes. Thelight flux 5 is made incident upon a transparent reference cell 63containing a standard sample, e.g. a buffer solution includingparticles. Then a light flux scattered from the reference cell 63 ismade incident upon a silicon photodiode 8. Output signals from thephotomultiplier 11 and photodiode 8 are supplied to lock-in amplifiers64 and 65, respectively which are driven by control signals suppliedfrom the chopping signal generator 62 in synchronism with the chopper61. In this manner, according to the invention, it is possible to removethe influence of background noise and noise due to drift of a sample.Therefore, the power spectrum density having high S/N can be derived andthe measuring accuracy and reliability can be improved materially.

FIG. 29 is a schematic view showing a modification of the embodimentshown in FIG. 28. In the present embodiment, the chopped laser beam isobtained by directly modulating the laser light source 1 by means of thechopping signal generator 62. The remaining construction is the entirelysame as that shown in FIG. 28.

FIG. 30 is a schematic view depicting still another embodiment of theanalyzer according to the invention. In the present embodiment, a laserbeam emitted from a laser light source 1 is divided into fluxes 4 and 5by means of a beam splitter 3. Then the divided light fluxes 4 and 5 arechopped by means of choppers 66 and 67, respectively under the controlof a chopping signal generator 62. The chopped light flux 4 is madeincident upon a cell 7 by means of a condenser lens 6 and the choppedlight flux 5 is made incident upon a reference cell 63.

The choppers 66 and 67 are so controlled that the chopped light fluxeshave opposite phase as shown in FIGS. 31A and 31B. That is to say, thechoppers 66 and 67 are controlled in such a manner that when one of themis made ON, the other is made OFF. Therefore, the monitor signalsupplied from a photodiode 8 which detects the chopped light flux 5 viathe reference cell 63 and representing various kinds of drifts and thescattered light intensity signal supplied from the photomultiplier 11and including various kinds of drifts may be shown in FIGS. 32A and 32B,respectively. In these drawings, hatched portions represent componentsdue to the variation in the laser beam emitted from the laser lightsource 1 and the variation of the standard sample with respect to time.Then the output signals from the photomultiplier 11 and photodiode 8 aresummed up by an adder 68 to obtain a sum signal shown in FIG. 31C. Thesum signal thus obtained is supplied to a lock-in amplifier 69controlled by the chopping signal generator 62, there is obtained thesignal representing an intensity of the light scattered by the particles9 in the cell 7 without being influenced by various drifts.

FIG. 33 is a schematic view showing still another embodiment of theimmunological analyzer according to the invention. In the presentembodiment, elements similar to those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by thesame reference numerals as those used in FIG. 1. When use is made of alaser as a light source 1, there might occur the so-called back-talk andthe intensity of a light beam 2 emitted from the light source 1 mightfluctuate. This is due to the fact that a part of the light beam isreflected by a cell 7 or particles 9 in the cell and is made incidentupon the laser light source 1. In the embodiments so far explained, inorder to avoid the influence of the fluctuation of the light beamemitted from the laser light source, there is provided the monitoringdevice. However, such a monitoring device might increase the size andcost of the analyzer. In the present embodiment, between the laser lightsource 1 and condenser lens 6 is arranged an optical isolator 71comprising a polarization plate 71a and a quarter wavelength plate 71b.The laser light flux 2 emitted from the laser light source 1 istransmitted through the polarization plate 71a and quarter wavelengthplate 71b and then is made incident upon the cell 7 via the condenserlens 6. A light ray reflected by the cell 7 is transmitted through thequarter wavelength plate 71b again and its polarization plane is rotatedby 90° with respect to the incident laser light beam. Therefore, thereflected light ray could not be transmitted through the polarizationplate 71a. In this manner, according to the present embodiment, it ispossible to prevent the reflected light from being incident upon thelaser light source 1 and thus the laser beam emitted from the laserlight source 1 does not fluctuate due to the back-talk. In this manner,it is possible to derive the signal representing the scattered lightintensity at high S/N and therefore, the monitoring device may becompletely dispensed with. It should be noted that the optical isolator71 may be arranged at any desired position between the laser lightsource 1 and cell 7, and thus the whole analyzer may be made smaller andlow cost.

FIG. 34 is a schematic view showing still another embodiment of theanalyzer according to the invention. Also in the present embodiment,portions similar to those illustrated in FIG. 33 are denoted by the samereference numerals used in FIG. 1. In the analyzer according to theinvention, it is necessary to detect a relatively weak scattered lightflux and thus, if stray light is made incident upon the cell, S/N mightbe decreased and measuring accuracy might be deteriorated. Particularly,if a light ray reflected by the cell is further reflected by surroundingparts and is made incident again upon the cell, the noise might beincreased materially. In order to remove such a drawback, in the presentembodiment, an optical path of a light flux 4 from a laser light source1 to a cell 7 is completely covered with a light guide tube 72. Thelight guide tube 72 is made of opaque material such as Bakelite and aninner wall is covered with black anti-reflective coating. In endsurfaces of the tube 72 are formed openings 72a, 72b and 72c having asmall diameter for passing the light fluxes 4 and 5 therethrough.Further, the cell 7 is contained in a cell box 73 made of opaquematerial. In the cell box 73 are formed entrance hole 74 for introduingthe light flux 4 into the cell 7 and an exit hole 75 for projecting thescattered light ontot a collimator 10.

FIG. 35 is a perspective view showing the construction of the cell box73. The cell box 73 is made of black plastic material such as Bakeliteand has an inside space in which the cell 7 is intimately inserted. Anopening 76 of the inner space may be closed by a slidable lid 77 made ofblack plastic material. In order to operate the lid 77 manually, the lidis provided with a lever 78 on its upper surface.

FIG. 36 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the cellbox. In the present embodiment, in an elongated box 81 made of opaquematerial there are formed a plurality of spaces in which a plurality ofcells are inserted. Openings of the spaces are closed by means ofslidable lids 77-1, 77-2, . . . with levers 78-1, 78-2, . . . . In abottom wall of the box 81 are formed a plurality of incident holes 74-1,74-2, . . . and in a side wall of the box 81 there are formed aplurality of exit holes 75-1, 75-2, . . . . The box 81 may be moved in adirection shown by an arrow A in a stepwise manner manually orautomatically. It should be noted that lids 77-1, 77-2, . . . may bemoved manually or automatically. In this manner, reaction liquidscontained in cells 7 set in the inner spaces of the frame like box 81may be analyzed successively without being affected by stray light.

It should be noted that in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 34, thelight guide tube 72 may be replaced by optical fibers. Moreover, even ifthe light guide tube 72 is dispensed with, a greater part of the straylight can be avoided only by providing the cell box.

FIG. 37 is a schematic view showing still another embodiment of theanalyzer according to the invention. In the present embodiment, portionssimilar to those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same referencenumerals as those used in FIG. 1 and their explanation is omitted. Inthis embodiment use is made of a cell 80 having a special construction.

FIG. 38 is a perspective view showing the cell 80. The cell 80 comprisesa cell main body 81 made of quartz and having a generally rectangularshape with an upper opening 84 and a lid 82 also made of quartz forclosing the opening 84 in a liquid tight manner.

In the main body 81, there is integrally formed a partition 83 whoseboth side edges are connected to side walls of the main body 81 andwhose bottom edge is coupled with a bottom wall of the main body 81. Anupper edge of the partition 83 is lower than an upper surface of themain body 81. By means of the partition 83, the inside space of the mainbody 81 is divided into small chambers 86 and 87. The chamber 86 iscalled a reaction chamber, whilst the chamber 87 is called a reservoirchamber. On an outer surface of the side wall 81a of the main body 81 issecured a shaft member 85 which extends perpendicularly to the side wall81a. On an outer surface of the main body 81 except for incident window88 and exit window 89 is applied black paint. Further on an outersurface of the lid 82 except for an exit window 90 is applied blackpaint. Through the incident window 88, a laser light beam 4 is madeincident upon the cell 80. It should be noted that the shaft member 85is aligned with an optical axis of the laser light beam 4 transmittedthrough the incident window 88. The exit windows 89 and 90 serve totransmit the scattered light toward a collimator 10. The cell 80 may beinstalled in a black box not shown through which the shaft member 83 isextended in such a manner that the cell may be rotated about the shaftmember by manually or automatically rotating the shaft member 85 or thecell may be rotated automatically within the black box.

Now the operation of the analyzer of the present embodiment will beexplained also with reference to FIGS. 39A to 39C. At first, the cell 80is set in such a manner that the opening 84 faces upwards as shown inFIG. 39A. Then, a given amount of a reagent, i.e. a buffer solutioncontaining fine particles having antibody or antigen applied thereon, isdelivered into the reaction chamber 86 by means of a reagent deliverynozzle 91. Similarly a given amount of a sample containing antigen orantibody to be tested is delivered into the reservoir chamber 87 withthe aid of a sample delivery nozzle 92. It should be noted that liquidlevels of the reagent and sample have to be lower than the partition 83so that these liquids are not mixed with each other.

Next, the opening 84 is closed by the lid 82 as illustrated in FIG. 39B,and then the opening of the black box is closed. Then, the intensity ofthe scattered light before the reaction is measured. In thismeasurement, the scattered light transmitted through the exit window 89is made incident upon the photomultiplier 11 by means of the collimator10.

Then, the cell 80 is rotated by 90° about the shaft member 85 in adirection shown by an arrow A in FIG. 39B. Then the cell 80 is set intoa position shown in FIG. 39C. By this rotational movement, the sample inthe reservoir chamber 87 is moved into the reaction chamber 86 and ismixed with the reagent to start the reaction.

Immediately after the rotation of the cell 80, the measurement of thevariation of the scattered light is commenced. In this measurement, thescattered light transmitted through the exit window 90 provided in thelid 82 is detected as illustrated in FIG. 39C.

The detected intensity of the scattered light is processed by a dataprocessing device 14 comprising A/D converter 17, fast Fouriertransformer 18 and calculation unit 19 in the manner explained abovewith reference to FIG. 1. In this manner, the agglutinated condition ofparticles contained in the reaction liquid in the reaction chamber 86can be monitored immediately after the reaction.

As explained above, by using the measuring cell 80 shown in FIG. 38, themixing of the sample and reagent can be performed by simply rotating thecell without taking the cell out of the analyzer. Therefore, themeasurement can be initiated immediately after the reaction.

It should be noted that in case of applying the cell to the heterodynedetection, only a single exit window has to be provided at the positionof the shaft member 85. Further, in the cell there may be provided morethan two chambers by forming more than one partition.

FIG. 40 is a schematic view shown an embodiment of the automaticimmunological analyzer according to the invention. Also in the presentembodiment portions similar to those illustrated in FIG. 1 are denotedby the same reference numerals used in FIG. 1. A laser beam 2 emittedfrom a laser light source 1 is divided into two light fluxes 4 and 5 bymeans of a beam splitter 3. The light flux 4 is collected by a condenserlens 6 and is made incident upon one of transparent cells 7 which arefed in a stepwise manner along a reaction line in a direction shown byan arrow A. A light flux scattered by particles in a reaction liquidcontained in a cell 7 just transported into a measuring position isdetected by a photomultiplier 11 via a collimator 10 having a pair ofpin holes. The other light flux 5 is made incident upon a siliconphotodiode 8 to produce a monitor signal representing a fluctuation ofthe intensity of the laser beam 2 emitted from the laser light source 1.The output signal from the photomultiplier 11 is supplied to a dataprocessing device 14 via low noise amplifier 15 and low path filter 16.At the same time, the monitor signal from the photodiode 13 is suppliedto the data processing device 14 through a low noise amplifier 13. Inthe data processing device 14, these signals are processed by means ofA/D converter 17, fast Fourier transformer 18 and calculation unit 19 toderive a power spectrum density in intensity of light scattered byparticles in the reaction liquid. A power spectrum density cure may bedisplayed on a cathode ray tube 43. Further, measuring results obtainedby processing the power spectrum density may be printed out by a printer42. In this manner a plurality of samples may be analyzed successivelyby feeding the cells 7 along the reaction line.

FIGS. 41A and 41B are schematic plan and side views, respectivelyillustrating an embodiment of the cell transporting mechanism accordingto the invention. An endless transporting chain 121 is wound between apair of gears 121a and 121b, and a motor 121c is coupled with the gear121a. The motor 121c is driven intermittently to move the chain 121along a reaction line in a direction shown by an arrow A in a stepwisemanner. In the chain 121, cells 123 are loaded one by one at a cellloading position P₁ by means of a cell loader 122. After that, at areagent delivery position P₂, a given amount of a reagent contained in areagent vessel 125 is delivered into the cell 123 with the aid of areagent delivery device 124. The reagent is formed by dispersing in abuffer solution polystyrene latex particles having a diameter of 0.3 μm,the particles being coated with antibody of immuno globulin G(anti-IgG). At a first photometry position P₃, a laser light beamemitted from a laser light source 126 is made incident upon a bottomsurface of the cell 123 and a scattered light emanating from a side wallof the cell 123 is detected by a photodetector 127 to derive a powerspectrum density prior to the reaction. Next, at a sample deliveryposition P₄, a given amount of a sample is delivered into the cell 123.Samples are contained in sample cups 129 which are arranged along aperiphery of a turntable 128 which is rotated by a motor 128a insynchronism with the chain 121. Successive samples in the sample cups129 are delivered into successive cells 123 in the chains 121 by meansof a sample delivery device 130. When the sample is delivered into thecell, the antigen-antibody reaction in initiated.

After a given time period, at a second photometry position P₅, a laserlight beam emitted from a laser light source 131 is made incident uponthe cell 123 via its bottom wall and a scattered light flux is detectedby a photodetector 132 to derive a power spectrum density after thereaction. After the measurement, the cell 123 is removed from the chain121 by means of a cell unloader 133 at a cell removing position P₆.

As explained above, in the analyzer of the present embodiment,successive samples are delivered into successive cells and theimmunological reaction in successive reaction liquids is measured. Inthis manner, successive samples can be measured automatically in anefficient manner. As explained above, the transporting chain 121 ismoved intermittently and its stationary time is determined mainly by atime required for collecting photometry data and processing thecollected data. Further a distance between the sample delivery positionP₄ and second photometry position P₅ is determined in accordance with anecessary reaction time. For instance, when the data collecting andprocessing time is five minutes, and the necessary reaction time issixty minutes, there are provided twelve pitches between the positionsP₄ and P₅.

FIGS. 42A and 42B are schematic plan and cross-sectional views,respectively showing another embodiment of the automatic analyzeraccording to the invention. In the present embodiment, a number of flatcells 141 are arranged along a periphery of a turntable 142 which isrotated intermittently in a direction shown by an arrow A. The turntable142 is arranged above a thermostat 143 in which a clear thermostatliquid 144 is contained, and liquids in the cells 141 are kept at adesired reaction temperature. On a bottom wall of the thermostat 143 issecured an ultrasonic vibrating element 145. Then particles, in reactionliquids contained in the cells 141 are excited by ultrasonic energy andare agitated effectively. Therefore, the probability that antigen andantibody are reacted with each other is increased, and thus the reactiontime may be shortened. This is particularly effective for a samplehaving a low antigen or antibody concentration.

While the turntable 142 is rotated intermittently, at a position P₁ agiven amount of a reagent contained in a reagent vessel 147 is deliveredinto a cell 141 by means of a reagent delivery device 146. Next, at aposition P₂, a first photometry is effected to derive a power spectrumdensity before the reaction. To this end, a laser light beam emittedfrom a laser light source 148 is guided by means of an optical fiber 149into a position inside the thermostat 143, and is made incident upon abottom wall of the cell 141. A scattered light flux emanating from aside wall of the cell 141 is guided by means of an optical fiber 150into a photodetector 151 arranged outside the thermostat 143.

After deriving the power spectrum density prior to the reaction, a givenamount of a sample is delivered into the cell 141 by means of a sampledelivery device 152. Samples are contained in sample vessels 153 and aretransported on a transporting member 154 in a direction depicted by anarrow B in synchronism with the turntable 143. In the presentembodiment, in order to enhance the processing faculty, the secondphotometry is performed at the position P₂ after the turntable 143 isrotated by one revolution. Therefore, the number of cells 141 arrangedon the turntable 143 and the rotation speed of the turntable have to bedetermined in accordance with a necessary reaction time. In general,when a sample has a low antigen or antibody concentration, the reactiontime becomes longer and the turntable 143 is rotated by one revolutionduring this long reaction time. However, in the present embodiment,since particles are effectively agitated by the ultrasonic vibratingelement 145, the reaction time can be made shorter, and therefore theprocessing speed can be increased. Moreover, in the present embodiment,since it is sufficient to provide only one set of the laser light source148 and photodetector 151, the whole construction of the analyzer can bemade simple.

It should be further noted that the time required for one revolution ofthe turntable 143 may be set to the shortest reaction time, instead ofthe longest reaction time. In such a case, after one revolution of theturntable 143, the first power spectrum density is measured and the datais checked whether or not useful data has been obtained. If no usefuldata is obtained, the second power spectrum density is measured afterthe turntable has rotated further by one revolution, and then the datais checked again. The above process is repeated until useful data isobtained. In such an analyzer, cell auto-loader and unloader or a cellwashing device has to be operated independently for respective cells.

FIGS. 43A and 43B illustrate still another embodiment of the automaticanalyzer according to the invention. In the present embodiment, portionssimilar to those shown in FIGS. 42A and 42B are denoted by the samereference numerals used in FIGS. 42A and 42B. In this embodiment, at aposition P₁, a given amount of a reagent is delivered into a cell 141 bymeans of a reagent delivery device 147, and a measurement prior to thereaction is performed. Next at a position P₂ a given amount of a samplecontained in a sample vessel 153 is delivered into the cell 141 by meansof a sample delivery device 152 to initiate the antigen-antibodyreaction. After the turntable 142 has rotated almost one revolution,when the relevant cell 141 is transported into a position P₃, ameasurement is carried out. In the present embodiment, a time necessaryfor the turntable rotating from P₂ to P₃ is set to the longest reactiontime. After the measurement has been completed at the position P₃, therelevant cell is removed from the turntable 142 and a new cell is set inthe turntable. In this manner, successive samples can be measuredeffectively.

In this embodiment, the photometry is effected at the positions P₁ andP₂, but there is provided only one set of laser light source 148 andphotodetector 151. That is to say, the laser light source 148 isarranged underneath the cells 141 and a laser light beam emitted fromthe laser light source 148 is made incident upon a half mirror 160arranged rotatably. A light flux transmitted through the half mirror 160is detected by a photodiode 161 to generate a monitor signalrepresenting a fluctuation of the laser light beam emitted from thelaser light source 148. When the photometry is to be effected at theposition P₁, a light flux reflected by the half mirror 160 is furtherreflected by a reflection mirror 162 and 163 and is then made incidentupon a cell 141 situating at the position P₁ via an air bath typethermostat 143. Therefore, an ultrasonic vibrating element 145 isprovided on the turntable 142. A light flux scattered by particles inthe cell is made incident upon the photodetector 151 by means of asector shape collimator 164 having two incident pin holes 164a and 164band exit pin hole 164c. In case of performing the photometry at theposition P₃, the half mirror 160 is rotated into a position shown by achain line and a light flux reflected by the half mirror is madeincident upon a cell 141 situating at the second position by means of areflection mirror 163. Then a light flux scattered by particles is madeincident upon the photodetector 151 via the pin holes 164b and 164c ofthe collimator 164. In this manner, according to the invention, thephotometry can be performed selectively at the positions P₁ and P₃.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments mentioned above,but may be modified in various manner. In the above embodiment, immunoglobulin G (IgG) is used as the antigen to be tested, but any othersubstances such as immuno globulin A (IgA), IgM, IgD, IgE, Australiaantigen, and insurine which cause agglutination by the antigen-antibodyreaction. Further, in the above embodiments, antibody is bound on theparticle surface and antigen in a test sample is measured, but antibodyin a test sample may be detected by using particles having antigenbounded thereon. In the above embodiments, use is made of polystyrenelatex particles, but any other organic particles and inorganic particlessuch as glass beads may be used. Moreover, in the above embodiments,particles are existent in the test solution before the reaction, but itis also possible to utilize particulate substances which are produced bythe antigen-antibody reaction. For instance, when human villusgonadotropin (HCG) is used as antigen and anti-human villus gonadotropin(anti-HCG) is used as antibody, then antigen-antibody complex producedby the antigen-antibody reaction can be used as particles. Further,antigen itself may be used as particle. An example of suchantigen-antibody reaction is a reaction in which candida albicans(yeast) is used as antigen and anti-candida albicans is used asantibody. Moreover, blood corpuscles, cells and microorganisms may beused as particles. Further in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, themeasurement is carried out by the batch system in which test solutionsare successively poured into the cell, but use may be made of a flowsystem in which antigen-antibody reaction liquid is continuously flowedthrough the cell. It should be further noted that in the embodiments sofar explained the light source is formed by the laser light sourceemitting coherent light, but any light source emitting incoherent lightmay be also used.

The advantageous effects obtained by the present invention may besummarized as follows.

(1) Since reagents such as enzyme and radio isotope which is expensiveand difficult for handling are not used, the analysis can be performedeconomically and easily.

(2) Since the precision and reproducibility of the method according tothe invention are higher than those of the non-labeling immunologicalanalyses such as immuno electrophoresis, immuno diffusion andsedimentation, it is possible to obtain reliable measurement results athigh precision.

(3) Since the measurement is performed by detecting the fluctuation inintensity of scattered light due to the Brownian motion of particles, itis possible to effect the precise measurement within a short time periodeven if an amount of a sample to be tested is extremely small.

(4) Upon comparing the known method in which the mean diffusion constantis detected from the variation of the spectral width of the scatteredlight, according to the invention the spectrometer is not required atall. Therefore, the whole measuring apparatus can be made small in sizeand cheap in cost, and further it is possible to obtain highly preciseand reliable measuring results.

(5) Since the measurement is based on the power spectrum density offluctuation in intensity of scattered light, it is possible to derive alarge amount of useful information about the antigen-antibody reaction.

(6) In the embodiments of the analyzer in which particles in reactionliquids are agitated by the ultrasonic energy, the reaction can bepromoted effectively and therefore the reaction time can be shortenedeven if the concentration of antigen or antibody to be tested is small.Moreover, the accuracy of measurement can be increased.

(7) In the embodiments of the analyzer in which a mean power spectrumdensity is derived by averaging a plurality of power spectrum densitiesobtained with the aid of a plurality of channels, S/N can be made highextremely and the accuracy and reliabiliy of measurement can beincreased to a great extent.

(8) Further, in the embodiments of the analyzer in which the incidentlight beam is chopped and the output signal from the photodetector isprocessed by the lock-in amplifier, the accurate measurement can beperformed without being affected by drift and background noise.

(9) In the embodiment of the analyzer in which the optical isolator andquarter wavelength plate are provided in the incident optical path, thefluctuation of light emitted from the laser light source due to the backtalk can be effectively avoided.

(10) In the embodiments of the analyzer in which the cell and incidentoptical path are covered with the opaque boxes, the measurement can beeffected accurately without being affected by stray light.

(11) In the embodiment of the analyzer in which the reaction isinitiated by rotating the measuring cell having a plurality of chambersdivided by the partition, the photometry can be effected easily from thestart of reaction.

(12) In the embodiments of the automatic analyzer, successive samplescan be measured automatically in an accurate and efficient manner.

What is claimed is:
 1. An automatic analyzer for measuringantigen-antibody reaction comprisingmeans for feeding a plurality ofcells along a given reaction line; sample delivery means for deliveringgiven amounts of samples to be measured into successive cells; reagentdelivery means for delivering given amounts of a reagent into successivecells; means for projecting a light beam into successive cells; meansfor detecting light scattered by particles included in a reaction liquidcontained in a cell to generate a photoelectric signal; and means forreceiving the photoelectric signal and measuring the antigen-antibodyreaction in accordance with a power spectrum density of fluctuation inintensity of the scattered light.
 2. An analyzer according to claim 1,wherein said reagent delivery means is arranged at an upstream positionwith respect to the sample delivery means viewed in the feedingdirection of cells, and the analyzer further comprises means forprojecting a light beam into a cell in which the reagent has beendelivered, means for receiving light scattered by particles contained inthe reagent to generate a second photoelectric signal, and means forreceiving the second photoelectric signal to derive a power spectrumdensity of fluctuation in intensity of the scattered light prior to theantigen-antibody reaction.
 3. An analyzer according to claim 1, whereinsaid feeding means comprises an endless belt rotated in a verticalplane.
 4. An analyzer according to claim 1, further comprising a cellloader for automatically supplying cells into the feeding means, and acell unloader for automatically removing cells from the feeding means.5. An analyzer according to claim 1, wherein said feeding meanscomprises a turntable along whose periphery are arranged a number ofcells, and means for rotating the turntable in a stepwise manner.
 6. Ananalyzer according to claim 5, wherein said light beam projecting meansand detecting means are so arranged that a photometry is effected for acell which situates immediately after a position at which the reagentcontaining particles is delivered.
 7. An analyzer according to claim 6,wherein sid sample delivery means is arranged to deliver a sample into acell for which the photometry is effected.
 8. An analyzer according toclaim 5, further comprising a liquid-type thermostat arranged underneaththe turntable.
 9. An analyzer according to claim 8, further comprisingan ultrasonic vibrating element secured to an outer surface of thethermostat for applying an ultrasonic wave to the reaction liquidscontained in the cells via a liquid of the thermostat.
 10. An analyzeraccording to claim 8, wherein said light beam projecting means comprisesa light source arranged outside the thermostat for emitting the lightbeam and an optical fiber having an incident end arranged in opposite tothe light source and an exit end arranged in opposite to a cell within aliquid of the thermostat.
 11. An analyzer according to claim 8, whereinsaid scattered light detecting means comprises an optical fiber havingan incident end arranged within a liquid of the thermostat and an exitend arranged outside the thermostat and a photodetector arranged inopposite to the exit end of the optical fiber.
 12. An analyzer accordingto claim 1, wherein said light beam projecting means comprises a lightsource for emitting the light beam, and an optical system including amovable reflecting mirror for reflecting the light beam toward twoadjacent stop positions of the turntable so that the light beam isprojected alternately into two cells indexed at said adjacent stoppositions.
 13. An analyzer according to claim 12, wherein said scatteredlight detecting means comprises a collimator having two incidentopenings arranged in opposite to said two cells indexed at the adjacentstop positions and an exit opening, and a photodetector arranged inopposite to the exit opening.
 14. An analyzer according to claim 13,wherein said reagent delivery means is so arranged that the reagentcontaining particles is delivered into a cell indexed at one of said twoadjacent stop positions which is downstream viewed in the rotationaldirection of the turntable.
 15. An analyzer according to claim 14,wherein said sample delivery means is so arranged that a sample isdelivered into a cell indexed at a stop position immediately after saidone of two adjacent stop positions.